Liquid marbles containing petroleum and their properties

Liquid marbles （non-stick droplets） containing crude petroleum are reported. Liquid marbles were ob- tained by use of fluorinated decyl polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxane （FD-POSS） powder. Marbles containing crude petroleum remained stable on a broad diversity of solid and liquid supports. The effective surface tension of marbles filled with petroleum was established. The mechanism of friction of the marbles is discussed. Actuation of liquid marbles containing crude petroleum with an electric field is presented.

Fabrication of bioinspired edible liquid marble with phase transition and tunable water barrier property

Based on aphid wax-honeydew marble and the hydrophobic wax structure of lotus and its derived applications with superareophilic and superhydrophobic properties,edible carnauba wax and beeswax particles were mixed and utilized to mimic lotus wax and wrap liquid,thus forming liquid marbles(LMs).Through the utilization of continuous production system(CPS),wax as an interfacial surfactant,water and solid,air-phase or mixed-phase marble content was produced.The edible liquid marble(ELM)could encapsulate water and food droplets.Edible solid marble(ESM)and edible solid hollow marbles(ESHMs)could be fabricated by applying pectin or syrup.Moreover,through the heating of wax powders with different melting temperatures,stable tablets and hollow capsules could be produced.The wax powder as interfacial surfactant could firmly bind with pectin through hydrogen bonds on ESM.The edible LMs can therefore be applied for residue reduction,corrosion reduction,biohazard prevention and cleaning in the food industry.The other phase LMs could act as novel tools in the pharmaceutical and food industries with the above-mentioned water transport,preservation,sustained releasing and selective releasing abilities.

Fabrication of cellulose based superhydrophobic microspheres for the production of magnetically actuatable smart liquid marbles

Cellulose microspheres were fabricated on the basis of sol-gel transition using NaOH/urea/H_(2)O as the solvent system.These microspheres had an average diameter of about 30μm.Upon modification with Fe_(3)O_(4) and poly(DOPAm-co-PFOEA),superhydrophobic magnetic cellulose microspheres were generated,which were analyzed by FTIR,TG,XRD,XPS and water contact angle tests.Magnetic cellulose microspheres contained approximately 15 wt%of Fe_(3)O_(4).Poly(DOPAm-co-PFOEA)/Fe_(3)O_(4)/cellulose microspheres and had a low surface energy and a high water-repellency.These superhydrophobic microspheres were also converted into liquid marbles via an easily scalable process.

Water film coated composite liquid metal marble and its fluidic impact dynamics phenomenon

A composite liquid metal marble made of metal droplet coated with water film was proposed and its impact dynamics phenomenon was disclosed. After encapsulating the liquid metal into water droplets, the fabricated liquid marble successfully avoided being oxygenized by the metal fluid and thus significantly improved its many physical capabilities such as surface tension modification and shape control. The striking behaviors of the composite liquid metal marbles on a substrate at room temperature were experimentally inves- tigated in a high speed imaging way. It was disclosed that such marbles could disintegrate, merge, and even rebound when impacting the substrate, unlike the existing dynamic fluidic behaviors of liquid marble or metal droplet. The mechanisms lying behind these features were preliminarily interpreted. This fundamental finding raised profound multiphase fluid mechanics for understanding the complex liquid composite which was also critical for a variety of practical applications such as liquid metal jet cooling, inkjet printed electronics, 3D printing or metal particle fabrication etc.

Gas marbles: ultra-long-lasting and ultra-robust bubbles formed by particle stabilization

Bubbles and foams are ubiquitous in daily life and industrial processes.Studying their dynamic behaviors is of key importance for foam manufacturing processes in food packaging,cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.Bare bubbles are inherently fragile and transient;enhancing their robustness and shelf lives is an ongoing challenge.Their rupture can be attributed to liquid evaporation,thin film drainage and the nuclei of environmental dust.Inspired by particle-stabilized interfaces in Pickering emulsions,armored bubbles and liquid marble,bubbles are protected by an enclosed particle-entrapping liquid thin film,and the resultant soft object is termed gas marble.The gas marble exhibits mechanical strength orders of magnitude higher than that of soap bubbles when subjected to overpressure and underpressure,owing to the compact particle monolayer straddling the surface liquid film.By using a water-absorbent glycerol solution,the resulting gas marble can persist for 465 d in normal atmospheric settings.This particle-stabilizing approach not only has practical implications for foam manufacturing processes but also can inspire the new design and fabrication of functional biomaterials and biomedicines.

Multifunctional organically modified graphene with super-hydrophobicity

In order to bring graphene materials much closer to real world applications, it is imperative to have simple, efficient and eco-friendly ways to produce processable graphene derivatives. In this study, a hydrophilic low-temperature thermally functionalized graphene and its super-hydrophobic organically modified graphene derivative were fabricated. A unique structural topology was found and some of the oxygen functionalities were retained on the thermally functionalized graphene surfaces, which facilitated the subsequent highly effective organic modification reaction and led to the super-hydrophobic organically modified graphene with multi functional applications in liquid marbles and polymer nanocomposites. The organic modification reaction also restored the graphenic conjugated structure of the thermally functionalized graphene, particularly for organic modifiers having longer alkyl chains, as confirmed by various characteri- zation techniques such as electrical conductivity measurements, ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy and selected area electron diffraction. The free-standing soft liquid marble was fabricated by wrapping a water droplet with the super-hydrophobic organically modified graphene, and showed potential for use as a microreactor. As for the polymer nanocomposites, a strong interfacial adhesion is believed to exist between an organic polymer matrix and the modified graphene because of the organophilic coating formed on the graphene base, which resulted in large improvements in the thermal and mechanical properties of the polymer nanocomposites with the modified graphene, even at very low loading levels. A new avenue has therefore been opened up for large-scale production of processable graphene derivatives with various practicable applications.

Interfacial Strategies for Smart Slippery Surfaces

The problem of contact line pinning on surfaces is pervasive and contributes to problems from ring stains to ice formation.Here we provide a single conceptual framework for interfacial strategies encompassing five strategies for modifying the solid-liquid interface to remove pinning and increase droplet mobility.Three biomimetic strategies are included,(i)reducing the liquid-solid interfacial area inspired by the Lotus effect,(ii)converting the liquid-solid contact to a solid-solid contact by the formation of a liquid marble inspired by how galling aphids remove honeydew,and(iii)converting the liquid-solid interface to a liquid-lubricant contact by the use of a lubricant impregnated surface inspired by the Nepenthes Pitcher plant.Two further strategies are,(iv)converting the liquid-solid contact to a liquid-vapor contact by using the Leidenfrost effect,and(v)converting the contact to a liquid-liquid-like contact using slippery omniphobic covalent attachment of a liquid-like coating(SOCAL).Using these approaches,we explain how surfaces can be designed to have smart functionality whilst retaining the mobility of contact lines and droplets.Furthermore,we show how droplets can evaporate at constant contact angle,be positioned using a Cheerios effect,transported by boundary reconfiguration in an energy invariant manner,and drive the rotation of solid components in a Leidenfrost heat engine.Our conceptual framework enables the rationale design of surfaces which are slippery to liquids and is relevant to a diverse range of applications.